George Pitcher is an Anglican priest who serves his ministry at St Bride's, Fleet Street, in London – the "journalists' church".

Prayer booms while economy busts

Regular readers will know that I'm worried by Anglican bishops who seem to suggest that the economic crisis is an act of God, serving as both a judgment on our profligacy and an opportunity to discover divinity in austerity.

That strikes me as lame theology (as well as pastoral ignorance). But now some research suggests that the credit crunch really is fuelling a spiritual renaissance.

According to Faithbook on Facebook (nothing to do with this blog – it's an interfaith network on Facebook):

24 per cent of respondents said that the financial situation was a subject last time they prayed;

Some 72 per cent of respondents believe that a "spiritual recession" is more worrying than a financial recession;

28 per cent have prayed more since the economic downturn (while 42 per cent have enjoyed a "positive effect" from praying since the economic collapse – so God/Allah/Jehovah has been actively paying attention to economic affairs);

81 per cent see the crisis as a "moral and social" opportunity.

True, the poll was conducted among the Faithbook social network, so we're polling among the choir here, rather than a wider and more secular sample of society. But one bright thought is that there are no atheists in a financial foxhole. According to Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "If we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society."

Mr Brown may be praying, of course, that a little more attention on the Almighty's work in the world might divert some attention from who is responsible for the almighty mess we're in here in the UK.